A known support for a roll of flexible material, such as paper towels, comprises a housing having cylindrical protrusions for engaging a hollow core around which the paper towels are rolled. This structure allows the roll to freely rotate but provides no mechanism for facilitating tearing a piece of the flexible material from the roll.
Other apparatus are known whereby a cutting edge is provided for facilitating the removal of a section of the flexible material by tearing it from the roll.
U.S. Pat. No. 224,010 (Gilson) shows a device wherein a roll of paper is mounted for rotation about an axis. A housing includes a knife edge which may be contacted by a loose end of the paper roll to facilitate tearing a section from the roll.
U.S. Pat. No. 354,981 (Jerome) shows a device for tearing wrapping paper. A housing supports a roll of paper for rotation about an axis and also provides an elongate slot through which a loose end of the roll of paper passes. One edge of the slot is slightly sharpened, and a sheet of paper passing through the slot may be severed from the roll by pulling the loose end against the sharpened edge.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,205,645 (Currier) shows a paper dispenser having a housing which supports a roll for rotation about an axis. A cutting bar is pivotally mounted to the housing and rotates about an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of the roll. The cutting bar is spring-biased to engage an outer surface of the roll and provides a relatively rough edge for engagement with the paper whereby a section of paper may be severed from the roll.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,105,622 (Waltz) shows a dispenser for rolled sheet material. A housing supports the roll for rotation, and a cutting bar is held adjacent an outer surface of the roll by resiliently flexible elements.